SerpApi.Org
Flock's artificial intelligence-powered surveillance cameras are now smart enough to find your car even if it doesn't have a license plate. Yet they're so dumb that they got an automotive journalist detained recently for driving a "stolen" Range Rover. Needless to say, it was a press car he was legally checking out for an upcoming review. When you then combine that kind of technology with the occasional cop using cameras to stalk women, it can be easy to see why some municipalities, including Denver, Colorado, are ditching their Flock arrays. But keep in mind that if they're only switching from Flock to another brand of license-plate readers, like Axon, it's like a gambling addict trying to kick the habit by switching from FanDuel to DraftKings.
For example, one of the biggest concerns about Flock cameras is that they're essentially creating a national surveillance apparatus like something out of [insert your favorite dystopia here]. Flock, of course, denies this, but mostly through the power of semantics. Per the company, local law enforcement agencies control their own data and don't have to share it with anyone. Yet Flock touts the fact that these agencies can opt in to a national lookup service — and 75% do. So Denver could have opted out if that was a real issue with Flock. Moreover, there's nothing stopping Denver — or another city — from voluntarily sharing its Axon data either.
It's also worth noting that both Flock and Axon cameras can capture a wide range of personal data you may prefer to keep private. The difference is that an Axon network can actually put your privacy at a higher risk than one from Flock.
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Which provides more surveillance, Flock or Axon?
Despite what you may read on the Flock website, Axon cameras are pretty effective when it comes to hoovering up personal details that can go far beyond your license plate numbers. That means a municipality that opts for Axon cameras instead of Flock units won't necessarily reduce the amount privacy its citizens lose through their use.
In fact, the opposite may be true. Consider the news from Axon Week 2026, where a new level of AI was introduced. The company claims that its Axon Vision technology is can currently "recognize observable activity such as physical altercations, unauthorized access, medical emergencies, or hazardous conditions" in real time. The functionality was introduced as a tool for Axon's millions of CCTV cameras, and that brings us to a major drawback of the Axon network — at least if you're interested in your own privacy.
While Flock concentrates its efforts on surveillance cameras, Axon is a full-line privacy invader with an entire public safety "ecosystem" that incorporates not only its ALPR and CCTV cameras, but also Axon products such as body cameras, drones, and small uncrewed ground vehicles. The latter are wheeled robots engineered for reconnaissance, equipped with multiple low-light cameras and infrared LEDs. Axon — which invented the devices — even makes tasers that are incorporated into its web of connected products. All that data can be integrated and viewed onscreen in real time using Axon's Fusus system.
Naturally, the whole Axon universe is powered by AI, too. And what could possibly go wrong putting people's lives in the hands of a technology that can't even do basic math?
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